From Beyond the Grave
by iFabricator520
Summary: In the Sol system, long before the events forged by the Killer of the Garden, guardians fought in an existence where everything was an unknown. Follow a Hunter and his fire team full of sociopaths as they race to uncover the secrets of the Traveler's enemies. Some things, as they discover, will change them forever...
1. Prelude

**"Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. Its the transition that's troublesome." - Isaac Asimov**

Long ago, before the feats of the lone Guardian who killed the Heart of the Black Garden…

 _I hate Russian winters._ The cold air clawed at my face and tore me away from my dreams, as the cauterized hole in my abdomen forced up the memory of my last encounter. They weren't Fallen, or Hive, they were _my friends;_ the thought sent words fleeting from me as I tried to put them to rolling sea of emotion burning within me _._

The snow-covered woods of Russia greeted me as I willed my eyes to open, drying them out immediately. Cursing the sting of the cold air, I turned to my right to see a scorch mark burned into the ground, seething with such heat that the snow refused to pile onto it still hours after. There in the middle of that crater lay smoldering robes and chunks of armor plating coated in ash, and with a grimace I the recognized the remains of a comrade...and a lover. My concerns returned to myself when felt something prick my finger, and looking down upon my clenched fist I discovered that nestled in my gauntleted hand was the hollow, dead shell of my ghost. The pure white octahedron was washed in shades of crusted crimson and char, with just the tip of just one of its four spines lodged inside my index finger. I couldn't help wincing a tad as I withdrew the remains from my appendage, watching the blood spill freely over my palm. For the first time in a long while, there was a small droplet of water running the length of my face as I buried my hands in the firm snow to clean them, and then lowered my companion gently down into one of the holes. _Don't worry pal, we ain't done yet, that I promise._ With the vow made, I buried my ghost.

It must have been hours that went by, time was a beginning to blur, and it wasn't until the winds died down and the sun appeared crested on the horizon that I knew evening had struck. I seized the moment to look around in the trees as best I could while sitting down, and studied the scene of the battle. Bullet holes riddled the ground and tree trunks, and black swaths of char painted what remained of the immediate flora. Off in the distance there could be heard the rallying cries and roars of Fallen pirates, echoed by the shrieks of Hive spawn, no doubt ready to move in on what was left of the skirmish, what was left of me. The haunting exchange of gunfire reverberated through the air like a drum cadence, but the chorus of whining Fallen weapons and thunderous Hive armaments was joined by a third, more familiar voice. When the woods grew silent at last I knew that the forces of darkness had been defeated for the time being. The trees seemed as if they were relaxed now, their branches noticeably drooped as tension left their bodies. The loose fauna made it difficult to distinguish, but in the bushes some distance away there was a faint figure trudging through the deep snow. It was then I noticed that I myself was covered waist deep. _Damn snow, damn cold, damn everything!_

He was watching me, scanning, probing, all of the trademark signs of a fellow hunter. After a few minutes of trading gazes with each other he approached me slowly, dusting snow off of his shoulders and thighs; he was wrapped in the furs and pelts of his trophies, but I could still see he adorned some kind of armor suit beneath it all. As he knelt beside me I could feel the silent rays of compassion emanate through his visor as he sized up my wounds. He reached as if to check my pulse before I waved his arm away, to which he retracted his hand in utter confusion.

"You know you'll freeze out here right?" he asked. The kid obviously thought I had any delusions of surviving. I played his game and nodded my head.

"Grab onto my arm, I'm getting you inside somewhere." he commanded. I offered my hand complacently, and with a mild huff from him he threw me over his back, causing my wounds to explode in an intense gout of flaming agony. I wanted to scream.

The sudden bark of his voice took me by surprise, as he called out to his ghost, "Icarus!" The octahedral companion materialized front of him, spinning about in an excited manner, and unlike mine, this one was very new and untouched.

"Yep, right here. Already found a cave, so stick close and follow me. This blizzard is rather fierce tonight." said the ghost. It scrutinized me with its eye for just but a second before vanishing into thin air. Funnily enough, I could feel the winds picking up again now that he mentioned the word blizzard.

 _Now that's a team,_ I thought. Admittedly, I don't think much of the way the Vanguard train the new bloods, but these two aren't half bad, at least not thus far, but maybe that was just my optimism speaking.

"Looks like we're here!" chimed Icarus. I looked over the Hunter's shoulder to catch us walking through the mouth of the cave, and saw that it was fairly small and unassuming, nestled underneath a plateau saturated in natural cover. He set me down in the back of the cave, up against the rock wall to support me. He waved in the ghost who watched the winds rage outside.

"Icarus, see what you can do for him. I'll get the fire going." said the Hunter. His manner was all business it seemed, and that suited my ends just fine, he'll be perfect for the job I have in store. As he walked away I turned to the bright blue eye staring me in the face. Its rigid teal form swiveled for just a moment before it spoke.

"As you could've guessed, my name is Icarus. My guardian over there is, well, I'll let him introduce himself. He's very secretive…but he's nice!" exclaimed the ghost. "Let me examine those wounds guardi – whoa!" he started. "How are you alive? You should be dead right now." he muttered as his shell rotated erratically. "I may not have enough light to heal…"

"I'm already dead, I fully accept that," I interrupted, tasting the blood in my mouth as I spoke. It was then that the Hunter stepped into the cave with some wood. Again he stared, but he didn't say anything and continued walking over to where he would pile the wood in the cavern. For a long while we all sat mired in deep silence, while I sought to work out how I would tell him everything, how to make things right, until my new-found conscience spoke for itself: _Tell him from the beginning, you owe him that much._ Thus with all my strength I returned to my words. "There's only one thing left I need to do," I grunted, "so pay attention son. I won't live long enough to tell this twice."

Just as he sparked the tinder and kindled the fire, he caught the notion my stare, and slumped against the wall opposite from mine. He lowered his wolf's head cloak and removed his helmet, tucking it beneath his arm, with his emerald eyes intent on me, and the rest of his chiseled features unreadable. _Good,_ I thought, _he's all ears._ With the last of my strength, I cleared my throat and prepared my story…


	2. SSDD

**S.S.D.D.**

 **"No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time." - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass**

 _I hate the rain,_ I thought to myself. _Scratch that, I hate everything._ I kicked a rock in frustration and watched in amusement as it shattered against the cliffs spraying pebbles in every direction. "Why are we on Venus again?" I asked impatiently. An answer in the form of a white, spiny little ghost floated down in front of me, rotating her shell.

"Because we're supposed to be hunting that Kell, remember?" answered Priscilla. "You could stand to pay more attention to what you're doing, you know." I waved her away from my face dismissively and pressed on through the fog and foliage, playing push and shove with leaves the size of men. The solitude in these kinds of ops soothed me; it felt good to be away from the fire team for a little while.

As time went on the jungle thinned out to a rocky outcrop on the edge of the cliffs. My HuD marker confirmed this was the position I needed to be in, so now came the wait. I unslung my sniper rifle and propped it against a tree stump while taking a seat at the cliff edge, deciding to let my legs dangle. The feeling of adrenaline flooding through me like cool mercury felt so good, I couldn't help but habitually flex my hands. _Everybody gets their jollies some way right?_

"You just happen to get your kicks out of killing things. That and adrenaline rushes." Priscilla interrupted. "You forgot our neural nets are linked, didn't you?" She hovered near my shoulder, looking into the vast landscape before us, and both of us remained silent for a long time, just the way I like it. It wasn't until I saw a skiff fly overhead that I sprang into action. "Scouts inbound," chimed the ghost.

I reached for my rifle and checked one last time that I'd loaded it. The bolt slid into place with a satisfactory 'clink', and my ghost made a nodding motion toward me. In one fluid motion I was prone on the ground with my bipod flared out looking at the scouts as they clambered lazily out of their ship. _These are some especially ugly gas-suckers._ "Priscilla! How far is the Ketch?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Approximately ten minutes until its arrival. Are you ready?" she asked. "Of course you are, silly me." She vanished into thin air but I could still feel her hover over me. I'll never understand how they do that, and something I find a little unnerving admittedly. With a resounding blast through the air, the Ketch appeared overhead, smashing through the volcano that stood in its way. _That's one helluva motherfucking ship!_

"Oh, the mouth on this one!" I heard her mutter inside my head. "That's not appropriate verbiage for an acquisition specialist."

 _We've been over this a thousand times Priscilla, I'm basically just the Vanguard's hitman._ The Ketch descended into the jungle below, melting through trees and creating its own clearing to land in, sending the wildlife below into chaos. Fallen dregs stood ready on the half-opened hatch to offload cargo from the ship, and within minutes after the Ketch touched ground it was like watching frenzied ants mill about their nest.

"I'm picking up even more skiffs on the way! Our exit window is going to be pretty slim, you know that right?" I ignored her warning for now and pushed her words aside, trying to maintain focus on the batteries being deployed, keeping track of their snipers. This was no usual landing, but I already knew that when the Vanguard briefed me three days earlier, when they revealed their suspicions of House Winter's ambitions to expand; seems like they were right. There were a TON of defenses being deployed with every passing minute, ranging from pike scouts to snipers to gun emplacements and more, and there was no way the rest of my team could push through that. Not alone. _Mark those gunners for me Priscilla, I'm tagging them as soon as I kill big boy up in the ship._

Six red dots appeared in my view, each marking a separate turret crew. Most of'em were dreg-class Fallen, so that meant they were going to be easy. I got so busy sizing up the rest of camp I didn't even notice the Kell walking down the ramp with his guards. _Keksis, Kell of Winter._ Each of the vandals were clad in some kind of chainmail getup, while the Kell himself wore mostly furs and pelts, with plating around his vital parts, even sporting a prosthetic arm which was the last thing I noticed, ironically. _What's the deal with these guys?_

"Probably pirates, but definitely not from around here, we've never seen this house before…" mused Priscilla. "When we board that thing you'll have to let me rummage through their goodies."

"Be my guest, we just need to get there first." I answered, still watching the Kell. He really was big, as in about twelve foot high and probably three to four hundred pounds big, he was a monster. _They're never too big for my firefly rounds though,_ I joked, patting my rifle with more affection than was probably normal.

Abruptly static came through the comms before I recognized the voice of our fire team's valiant Titan, Ajax. "Hey, dickhead, how 'bout you pull your thumb outta your ass and give us a rundown of what you see up there?"

 _I hate Titans._ I could feel my mouth twisting unconsciously just thinking about those self-righteous, arrogant, holier than thou…

"You hate everything!" teased Priscilla, obviously stifling a laugh. "I think you should learn to vent your anger in more…"

"Shut up!" I snapped, shaking my head. A myriad of thoughts about what choice words I would share with my knight in shining armor ran around my head, distracting from the intel I needed to give the rest of the team down there with him. Well, teams technically, because the Vanguard also sent a detachment of sorcerers or whatever, insisting that the bookworms come along to catalog everything as we stormed the Ketch, but if you'd asked me I'd have said they just made up that excuse to claim all the loot.

"Still waiting for your plan…" Ajax sighed, clearly annoyed. Anyone else would just think he's showing anxiety through his passive-aggressive manner, but I've seen more than enough to say otherwise. He relishes in dominating opponents, but unlike me, he doesn't care who they happen to be. The cunt would find any excuse he could to kill something if for no reason than he simply desired it.

"Fire team Ares, fire team Athena, prepare to move on your designated marker after I take the shot." I announced. I could just barely hear knuckles popping through Ajax's channel, eager beaver _._ Zooming back onto the Kell, I could see him examining a Vex conduit, probing it, obviously looking for something. When the conduit lit up at his touch my finger immediately tensed on the trigger, my gut told me that whatever he was attempting, it ended now. So with a breath of finality, I emptied my head of thought and squeezed the trigger.


	3. There's a Shift in the Air

**There's a Shift in the Air**

 **"I feel the need to endanger myself every so often." - Tim Daly**

The shot rang through the air, forcing a deafening silence on everything in the jungles of Venus, daring anyone or anything to move or make a sound as the Kell's limp form crumpled to the ground. Ajax was the first to break the silence though, _go figure_.

"Team Ares, Team Nerds, all lights are GREEN!" cried Ajax as he leapt from cover. From up on the high ground it was an impressive surprise assault, watching the combined numbers of twelve rush into the unassuming Fallen. Ajax shouldered through countless dregs effortlessly, pausing on occasion to deliver deadly accurate bursts from his rifle. Then there was Ragnar, my rival and fellow hunter whom I had the utmost respect for, mantling and clearing the sniper nests that menaced the rest of the team while Percy, the first of our two resident warlocks, channeled a surge of void energy along the ground in an earth-shattering line that erupted in front of a group of a captains. Bringing up the rear was our second titan Constantine, affectionately named "Big Bird" by everyone, laying waste to anything that moved in front of his rattling heavy machine gun. Finally, there was Nora, our other warlock, who moved about with the grace of a fox and fought with the ferocity of a tigress. She offered fire support, but her speciality came from the healing techniques she'd learned with solar energy, something which she was damn good at. Last time I took a bolt in the arm she simply mended the skin like magic! She was beautiful though, and thoughts of intentionally getting hurt to crossed my mind as her brilliant blue eyes stole control of my mind. Even in her armor it was hard to take my eyes off of her rather generous…

"So you do like her!" exclaimed Priscilla, beaming at me with excited mischief. Her 'brow' was tilted slightly forward as if to metaphorically beat me into admission. She was a constant pain in the ass, if not delightfully straightforward. To her credit I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true, but it wasn't something I would let her hold over me.

"How do you figure?" I asked sheepishly.

"You were looking at her posterior" she answered matter of factly. By now I guess the blush under my helmet was sufficiently apparent, because she was laughing with abandon.

"Naw, she's not my type!" I declared defensively. "She's into books and stuff, not devilishly handsome men such as myself!" I countered, with a big split-tooth grin under my helmet. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped when I saw her eye roll in disgust. With a final huff from her, she vanished into my jerkin. Finally able to refocus on the battle, I rang off a few shots on some unlucky vandal snipers, and that was when I heard the all too familiar hiss and crackle of energy. _Shock swords._

I rolled over onto my side just in time to narrowly avoid a blade through my skull, and get a good look at the attacker who towered over me. Without thinking I pulled a knife from my boot and placed it through the vandal's knee, then its throat, letting liquid ether spill over my chest plate. Its assailant didn't leave me any time for respite before it was also upon me, raising it's jagged sword to strike me where I lay. I grabbed for my sniper and rolled again before it brought down the sword to the dirt, leaving a scorch mark along with the smell of burnt leaves. As I came to my feet I saw the creature recuperate from the effort of his attack, and stared it straight in the eyes, to which it returned the gaze. Almost before I could react it lunged straight for me, but my aim and trigger finger were true and the bullet pierced it's helmet and promptly detonated, spraying brain and ether in every direction.

"Phew," I sighed, "That was a close one!" I examined my rifle for damage and engaged the safety, and after obsessively observing the bolt I decided it was fine and slung it over my shoulder. The thought of my obligations to the team weighed on me and I knew I had to find a way to rejoin them below, but first it was trophy time. I removed the mask off of my first victim and snapped off a horn, throwing it carelessly into my jerkin, earning a few sharp words from Priscilla. The next piece I took was the sword, still crackling and humming with energy, which I deactivated and secured tightly to my belt. _They're gonna hate me when I see I took time to collect,_ I thought, smiling.

~oOo~

The climb down the ridge was a grueling one, with plenty of slick edges and treacherous rocks. I made it about half way down to another outcrop when an idea popped into my pretty little head as I saw there was roughly fifty feet to go.

"Priscilla!" I beckoned, throwing a pinch of sass into my voice. I almost jumped a foot when I felt her wiggle her way out of my cloak from behind my neck, nearly killing myself.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't do it." she cautioned, her shell flared for emphasis. She flew in front of me as if to halt what I was doing.

"What are my chances?" I asked, stubbornly disregarding her warnings and waving her away. The thrusters in my boots flared to life as I put them on standby, which garnered a sigh of disappointment from Priscilla.

"You don't really care about the numbers, so I'm just gonna say not good." Her tone signaled that she'd given up the fight. "I guess whenever you're ready…"

I braced myself for balance, and tightened my new toy against my belt for good measure. "Here we go!" I yelled as I launched myself from the ledge, carelessly falling through the air. The ground came to me much faster than I had thought…

"NOW!" screamed Priscilla, who despite being invisible was tangibly bewildered and frightened. That kind of raw emotion from her was both disconcerting and yet comforting, because it let me know that beneath all of her teasing and numb attitude she did care for me…at least to some degree.

At her suggestion I activated the jump jets on my boots and briefly ended the pull of gravity on my body, letting it take hold of me again and bring me to the ground. My knees filled with pain as I landed my not quite so smooth approach, forcing me to double over and wince. Before I could recover something grabbed my shoulder from behind and whirled me around, bringing me face to face with a Fallen Captain. It laughed as it raised it's weapon to my head, clearly relishing the moment. _Good for you,_ I thought, _but I'll do you one better!_

I landed a blow to the head which freed me from it's grasp, as it recoiled to clutch it's face. I decided to go for something flashy, and I drew my newly acquired shock sword from my belt, gathering looks of genuine surprise from every Fallen around me. The captain hissed and threw down it's rifle, revealing a set of twin shock swords that detached from one another. It was at this point I realized I was surrounded, but the dregs and vandals had no intention of attacking as evidenced by what looked something akin to cheering. _I just scored a mother-fucking duel!_

After what seemed like hours of circling each other, I took a chance on the first strike, lunging at it with all the power my thighs could afford me. It blocked me as expected, but its counter was too slow and allowed me time to jump back and reassess my strategy, which was becoming more or less a means to use my agility to outmaneuver him.

The Fallen went on the offensive this time clearly intent on using its size to subdue me thinking I would go for the block, but it guessed wrong. As it raised it arms he exposed an unarmored crack in the harness, and I decided that was my opportunity. I somersaulted into the beast and jammed the sword between it's arms, forcing the Fallen to double over and kneel to the ground. Forgetting about my sword, I stood and admired the sight of this thing in front of me gasping for breath and in very obvious pain. _He's lucky I never activated the blade._

I stepped forward to finish him, having decided enough was enough, but the Fallen captain surprised me in a flurry of movement that left me on the ground with my head spinning. I felt the air rush from my body as the beast planted its boot just under my ribs, and now I was frantically trying to think of something, anything, that could get me out of this. _You should have finished him you cocky bastard!_ I scolded myself, rapidly filling with self pity.

What happened next that shocked me to the core, and truly changed my outlook on life. I watched as Priscilla wiggled her way out from my jerkin and float up to the Fallen standing on top of me, staring him down, waiting. When she had it's full and undivided attention she sent a beam of charged energy that stunned the Fallen and managed to get it off of me as it reeled from the shock treatment. With haste, she flew back into one of my assorted pouches and didn't say a word. Were I not being attacked, I would be frozen in disbelief, but this was my chance and she risked everything for it.

With renewed vigor I pushed away the pain of breathing and charged the Fallen captain with my knife, whose failed counter attack was slowed by my stab wound. Without much resistance I grabbed hold of it's cloak and mounted it's back, sliding home my knife into it's neck. For good measure, I stabbed once more, then again, and again, and again, until finally I rode the creature to the ground. The rest of the Fallen that surrounded were plunged into total chaos, some choosing to scatter while others raised their weapons. Without thinking too much I reacted by drawing my hand cannon and firing a full cylinder into the crowd of attackers, dropping six dregs. The Vandals, being smarter, had already found safety behind the numerous crates.

"Priscilla!" I yelled, my voice rougher than a whetstone.

"Already marking those Vandals" she replied. There was nothing in her voice, no emotion, just emptiness. She was completely shaken from what just happened. _I shouldn't be so careless._

I again pushed the thought away as a distraction, and focused on the hud markers that were now hovering over the crates harboring my opponents. I peeked around the corner of my own crate and popped off a few shots with my hand cannon, earning a scream echoed by the familiar sizzle of evaporating ether. _Hah, got'em!_ Just as I loaded my last cylinder and raised the gun to fire I saw the Fallen behind the crates melt under a hail of bullets my left. I turned my gaze to the source to see a titan wearing full plate armor painted in a rich woodland camouflage _. Nice digs Constantine!_ He spared me a glance and even a nod, but whether or not he saw my ordeal with the Captain I didn't know.

"Reloading!" he called out, as he knelt behind a rock. In response I vaulted over my crate and made an advance toward the next closest thing between me and enemy fire. Most of the Fallen were dead, and many fled in retreat to board their ship as my team and the other Warlocks pushed on. _Just twelve of us assaulted a Ketch and won, holy…_

"Don't you finish that statement!" Priscilla interjected. I opened my mouth to let out something smart, but shut my trap as my aching lungs reminded me about who saved who. I let out a sigh and nodded at Constantine, who returned the gesture and holstered his machine gun.

"Team Ares, forget about killing these Fallen, we've got a ship to board!" I ordered. Sparing one last glance at Constantine, I saw him deploy his personal shield and begin to push straight to the Ketch. I fell out close behind him and his flat shield of energy that protected us both, suppressing anything that tried to stop us from achieving that goal. Two dozen Fallen beasts fell to the ground with extra nose holes by the time myself and the rest of Ares clambered the ramp of the Ketch's cargo deck, and two dozen more died trying to keep us out of it. At last, the final dreg collapsed clutching its throat as my throwing knife found its home in the creature's windpipe. I retrieved my knife and turned to see the five members of Ares grouped together and staring at me, and staring hard. I rubbed my neck through the armor as I remembered the fact that I left them to do ninety percent of the heavy lifting. _Please don't let them yell at me._ I decided the universe was out to get me when Ajax stepped forward to meet me halfway before stopping cold.

"What the fuck Maverick? Where the hell were you?" he screamed. He removed his helmet and threw it into a crate nearby, and kicked it away when it ricocheted back toward him. I let out a breath and fondled my knife for just a moment, thinking about how good it would look around his neck.


	4. The Strength of the Pack is the Wolf

Chapter 3: The Strength of the Pack is the Wolf

" **You know you are truly alive when you're living among lions." - Karen Blixen,** _ **Out of Africa**_

The cold hard stares of my teammates did little to put me at ease as I pondered how to deal with the menace in front of me. I decided that aggression would just end up making things worse, and if it came to a fist fight I was sure to lose. I spared a quick glance at an unimpressed Nora, then shamefully drifted my eyes back to Ajax's.

"Things got…complicated." I said, mincing my words. "Look, we'll discuss this later. Right now we need to focus on clearing the rest this ship." When I saw everyone else click off their safeties and begin to go about scouring the ship I turned around with a sigh of relief, having shaken their death gaze. I _hate_ Percy's stare, it's chilling, and bears a sort of unflinching resolve that shouldn't belong to a frickin' sorcerer - I mean warlock. Yet even that paled in comparison to the wave of shame I felt under Nora's apparent disapproval. God was she gorgeous when angry though, in a weird sort of way. Her sharp nose, blue eyes, and prominent cheekbones seemed to reach out and just…I don't know. I felt lost looking at her, and I felt my own cheeks burn again. _Thank God I didn't remove this helmet!_ Suddenly there was a very intense pressure on my shoulder and I found myself being wheeled around to face a very, very angry looking Titan.

"Okay fancy pants, you may be right about avoiding this now, but when we get back to the tower you better believe we're gonna do some talking." Ajax said, cracking his neck. It was his turn to be surprised when I wrenched his hand from my collarbone and put a knee into his diaphragm, just under his chest plate. Pitifully he grabbed at me while he dry heaved on the deck like a fish out of water.

"Look jackass," I said, putting the weight of my boot on his hand, "I don't really appreciate the attitude, so shut your mouth and mind your goddamn manners." When I heard a growl of protest I increased the pressure until I heart a satisfying pop and crack, with maybe a hint of a whimper. _Mmmm, that never felt so good._ When he made a move to sweep my legs I merely backed away, letting him regain his footing. There was now an unspoken statement between us, and the only answer he gave in return was a hateful glare. He was going to return the favor at some point, but the day was mine.

Even with my team falling apart and my authority tested once again, it was pretty hard to stay sour through absorbing all of the _alien_ around me, with rounded and bulbous crates, netting full of god-knows-what, and circular doorways. It was all so peculiar, and it had a certain charm to it…

"Mav!" Priscilla called, "there's a terminal by the main door, put me in there and let's see what's in this gift basket!" I'd almost forgotten about the promise I'd made on the cliffs, so there was a pause before I registered the words in my ears and let her fly free.

She was positively ecstatic as she flew to the console. Her shell twitched erratically while she hacked the machine, and seeing that always kindled a strange flame somewhere inside me. Watching the ghost work was a sight to behold, and it was her voice again that pulled me from the hungry maw of deep thought.

"Why are you smiling?" Priscilla inquired.

"Because of you." I answered plainly. It was an answer I could tell she liked, as she spared a glance that seemed to beam with pride…as best as I could tell from a ghost anyway. She didn't let the moment last long.

"That girl is twisting your mind Mav, you should listen to yourself." Priscilla said flatly. The empty protest froze in my half open mouth as I realized she was right. This would have to be remedied, and soon. With a scowl I looked to my hand cannon and gave it a twirl in my palm, marveling at the handiwork of the smith who made it. The gilding on the cylinder and frame came from a guy who owed me a favor a few years back. _Ah, Matt! Those years were so much fun…_

The door whispered open and reflexively my weapon was trained on where I thought a head might appear. To my surprise there was nothing except my ghost looking at me with an expression that cried, 'really?'. Keeping my weapon and eyes forward I entered the wormhole of a door and wandered the maze of networking channels that comprised this space bucket. The rusted metal halls smelled as bad as the Fallen looked, with odor enough to trigger my gag reflex even with an air filter. Eventually I entered a chamber lined with pillars down the sides, each one boasting a curious set of spikes and antennae, along with a set of monitors.

"We'll find something here for sure!" Priscilla chimed. She darted out of my cloak and went straight to work on a computer, leaving me again to my own thoughts and devices. I too began to wander and look about the room, feeling textures the smooth metal of crates and testing the points of the strange spikes. The silhouette of a weapon drifted into my peripherals and I found myself walking toward a Fallen sidearm. I grasped it and tested the grips, lining up the sights meant for four eyes instead of two, inadvertently dizzying myself.

"You know that's a Dreg's standard weapon right?" Priscilla commented as she floated just above my hands, looking at the pistol, then at me. "Using this is a sign of humiliation and status, and is a promise they must keep with their rank and title."

"Hmph", I uttered thoughtlessly, as I discarded the weapon. "You find anything in the computers?"

"You're not gonna believe this…" she started.

"Show me."

~oOo~

I flew at a full sprint back to the hangar as Priscilla hastily tried to explain everything. This find was HUGE, assuming we didn't just read false intelligence elaborately fed to us through a decoy. _Screw it_ , _I ain't paid enough to think this far. Actually, I'm not paid at all._

When I arrived at the cavernous interior of the hangar bay there was only team Athena. _Figures the real warlocks are on time. Stereotypical. Why can't Nora or Percy be on time?_ I slowed my pace to a brisk walk, trying to save my breath to look professional. Just as I opened my mouth to speak I was silenced by a crisp, deep voice. _Damn the echoes are crazy in this room!_

"Stop there Hunter, you're close enough." the voice commanded. "I could smell the ether off of you the moment you scurried in here." A man in black robes turned to face me, removing his helmet as we stood looking at each other. He looked probably twenty years my senior, with rough skin and a nasty scar running the length of his brow. The hooded cobalt and icy gaze of his eyes were the real intimidator though, and it worked. The helmet probably never came off too often, so that meant experience…and respect.

"I've got something that explains the Vex artifact, and why this Kell was so interested in it." I said, and held out my hand motioning for Priscilla to appear, because I didn't remember half of what she told me five minutes earlier. For just a hair of a second I thought I saw the warlock's brow rise, but he was good at keeping his face unreadable. A man of secrets. Priscilla turned back to me for reassurance before facing the scrutinizing eyes of the scholars.

"We-", she started, pausing a moment to allow the five other members of my team to come stomping into the clearing. Ragnar climbed atop a crate and made his seat on its edge, simply crossing his hands in his lap. The other five began to fill the unorthodox circle started by myself and Athena. When all was silent, I nodded back to Priscilla.

"We found exactly what this Kell was after, and it concerns that Vex artifact outside." she said, turning to face everyone. In a flash she projected a hologram of the object in question. "This device is a node connected a wider array that spans this entire solar system, and may even go further. From what little time I've had to analyze this thing, it almost seems to work like some sort of temple, or shrine."

"Incredible…" Percy breathed, obviously unaware that he said anything. His gaze immediately shot to me, and I swear if it weren't for his helmet he'd look like a five-year-old who just had a bag of candy shoved in front of him. "Where did you find this information?"

"Not important," I answered, "We already cleaned out that datastore." He simply nodded and seemed to return to his thoughts, leaving us all in silence. After a moment of just standing awkwardly the Athenian in command cleared his throat.

"I'm calling in the heavy lifters, they'll allow us to move this…thing to a safer location where it may be properly studied." he said. His tone gave off a holier-than-thou attitude that was beginning to grate on me. Looking at Nora and Ajax's stance it became obvious I wasn't the only one.

"So it seems we're done then!" I announced, watching everyone relax visibly. "Uh…you, yeah you, what's your name?" I asked pointing to the older Warlock. He frowned slightly before letting it disappear into the calm ocean of his face.

"You may call me Callus." he stated. "Now if you excuse me, I have some legitimate business to attend to…Hunter." The snarl was all but visible, and that would not fly next time we talked. Not if I had any say in it.

Without waiting a second longer I turned to the rest of Ares, the people I actually cared about, and gave the order to return to their ships. Ajax spared me a glance before jogging off to his spacecraft. With a sigh of relief, I left the maw of the Ketch and turned to my ghost who now hovered over my shoulder.

"I've just called for your ship." She said cooly. "You did good today Mav."

"Thanks Priscilla. I don't know what I'm gonna do with that Titan though." I answered with my eyes to the ground. She floated down to look me right in the face, then dove beneath my chin and brought my head level.

"Chin up mister, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Besides, I'm more worried about your thing for Nora than anything else." she replied.

"It's nothing!" I shot back a little too fast. Her eye squinted a tad letting me know I wasn't fooling anyone. _Damn she's a pain in the ass._

"Hey!"

~oOo~


	5. Oh Ye Wonderful Dreams

**Oh Ye Wonderful Dreams**

 **AN:** So the reason there's been such a delay in updating this story can be attributed to schooling, and specifically the difficulties of learning Maya 2016 with no previous experience. (Getting there though!) Anyhow, if you like/dislike this story please be sure to leave a comment or even a review! Contrary to popular belief, writers do benefit from active feedback. My inner-snark aside, enjoy!

" **Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars**

The long ride was over, and the mission was complete. I let out a long yawn as I flicked on the auto-pilot to initiate docking procedures, and laid back with my legs on the dash in my nice leather chair. _Leather I procured myself, in fact, but that's a story for another time._ It felt good to relax; to let the legs stretch and the body decompress. Releasing a deep breath I carefully opened my pouch to check on Priscilla, who lay sound asleep at the bottom. If it weren't for the radio blaring all sorts of protocol nonsense my eyelids would have shut by now too. The mention of my team and I startled me out of my chair, and I landed on the cold metal floor with a loud thud. _Why can't there be any rest for the wicked?_ I thought sourly.

"Ares-One, you are cleared for docking in hangar ten! Approach safely." droned a digital voice. I scrambled to my feet to send the acknowledgement signal and then slouched back lazily into my chair. When my ship pulled into the gaping maw of the hangar I grabbed my weapons and holstered them, then made for the exit hatch below deck. I felt myself stagger slightly as the ship landed faster than I figured, then hit the release on the main hatch. The hydraulics hissed quietly exposing me to the eery quiet of the tower hangar at night. I felt as if I were being watched.

A voice that seemed to drift from the shadows nearly had me jump out of my skin until I saw the man it belonged to. He was a mid-sized old man, with hair fairer than snow and skin darker than the night itself; it was none other than Johannes Limbani, the tower shipwright…and an old mentor.

"It's after TAPS you know." he said, his voice smoother than silk. "You best get to bed soon, your team is already checked in and sleeping." The warm smile on his face told me his comment was nothing but playful banter, and his crinkled age-worn eyes told me he wanted nothing more than to talk.

"You scared the shit outta me Old Joe!" I exclaimed, as I brought up my hand in salute. He returned the gesture as best as his shaking old limbs could muster, before he threw a hand on my shoulder and pointed to a nearby stack of small crates. "All things considered you're doing pretty well for yourself. How old are you this year?" I asked.

"One hundred and two," He answered grimly. "I'm getting too old for this job." He hung his head as he admitted the fact, then looked me in the eyes curiously. "How did your mission go?" he finally asked.

"I snagged some pretty cool loot, got a sword and helmet trophy, killed a Captain in single combat even!" I said excitedly. The look on his face was blank except for the slight twist in his mouth. _Fine old man, I'll be boring then._ "On the side we managed to, you know, assassinate a Kell, and secure a new Vex toy. The usual kinda stuff." I said casually. He was grinning now.

"Good, good. Are you still chasing that Warlock?" Old Joe asked with a smile. I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, which earned a slap on the shoulder from him as he rocked on his heels with laughter. "She's a pretty one, I'll give you that. She won't be an easy catch for you, Maverick." he said, stopping to take a seat on the crate. "But she's the right one, trust me. They don't call you _hunters_ for nothing." he added with a nudge to the shoulder.

For a while there was an awkward silence that passed between us as I sat next to him, and the sounds of the busy frames milling about with their nightly duties filled the room with empty noise. I finally looked back to him with a smile built from false confidence and simply nodded like a swollen headed idiot. "Thanks Joe, your vote of confidence is appreciated." He simply chuckled and looked up at me as I stood to go.

"Goodnight Maverick," he said.

"G'night old man!" I replied over my shoulder, as I marched up the empty stairs of the hangar and into the catwalks above. It was hauntingly quiet and oddly eerie with just the frames to grace the hallways, the shadows had a way of making me see things that weren't there. _Easy Mav, easy._ The steel-gray doors of an elevator elevator slid aside and admitted me to the cramped chamber where I plotted course for the barracks at level fifteen. The ride took only a few minutes, and it wasn't too long before I made it to the white-washed marble-floored halls and to the room full of bunks assigned to my team, each of whom I found out cold.

Ajax's hand was bandaged though, and I found a smile had unconsciously chiseled itself onto my face. Following Priscilla, I wove my way in between the staggered bunks of my teammates and quietly laid my gear atop the footlocker in front of my bed in the far corner, taking great care not to wake the hunter who slept soundly on the upper bunk. _Ragnar? Sleeping soundly? That's a first._ I stripped to my standard-issue small clothes and crept under the wool covers my own bunk, and reached out to the warm embrace of sleep. The darkness of closed eyelids felt welcoming, and I quickly surrendered to it's wonderfully smothering presence.

~oOo~

There sat a small boy, alone, under the shelter of a half-dilapidated garage deep in the city. The other street rats had been luckier and had ample time to run away before the city militia was able to corner them. This small boy, on the other hand, was sitting here thoroughly boned and waiting for them to find him as he knew they eventually would. He wondered if for a moment that they might actually understand his reasons, maybe even sympathize with him, but quickly dashed his hopes and focused on the cold hard truth. He had stolen, and there was no mercy for theft in the city, no reprieve from the vengeful lady of justice.

The radio on the militiamen's helmets gave away their position, and the young boy felt his muscles tense in fear as the chatter crept closer. When the noise was in the room with him, and there were unseen eyes that scrutinized him from every angle, the primal call to action was sounded, and the reaction initiated. The young boy who had merely stolen enough to buy his next meal charged the tall man in uniform with the sharpest scrap of sheet metal he could find, and thrust it into his assailant.

As the man keeled over, the boy made for the exit of the garage as fast as his little legs could carry him. He ran down the concrete and brick alleys littered with filth and debris, and through the streets swelling with downtrodden crowds, and neon signs. These aimless people were a blanket of safety that he seamlessly merged with, moving through them as a wave moves through the ocean. Then, before the little boy could stop himself, he ran head-first into the belly of a man dressed in gray fatigues with an orange 'V'-shaped insignia on the right of the chest. He flinched, expecting a beating, as the man turned to face him. The boy peeked through his arms and instead found the man in a squat level with him, with a hand outstretched. The man's skin was dark, like charcoal, and his curly hair was graying but still retained a trace of black at it's roots. There was a smile and a good feeling about him that overrode the boy's sense of caution, and thus he returned the man's gesture and offered back his own hand.

The man's comrades continued on without him and faded out of view. A firm hand closed itself around the boy's, but not so hard as to scare him away. With a deep voice woven of the finest thread and gilded with the purest gold, the man spoke. "What worries you so, young man?"

"Why does it matter to you?" The boy responded in the only way he knew, wary and guarded. The face of the man in uniform bore a few light scars and seemed as if it had stood the test of time, but for a moment the boy noticed a lapse in the dark man's bearing. An emotion slipped through, to be sure, but whatever it was couldn't be named. It reminded him of the hurt he'd learned to deal with long ago.

"Because it is my job to help protect the city, and thereby to help protect you young man." said the man, releasing his grip on the boy's hand. "There is blood on you, I can see that. It is not my place to clear your crimes, but I can offer you a chance to right your wrongs and fill your stomach."

To the boy this came as a shock, who could only focus on the fact that this soldier saw straight through him. He wanted to run, to just hide away, but there was a curiosity that kept his feet planted. What if the man was right? The boy's instincts were everywhere regarding the stranger. "If I accept?" the boy asked.

"Then I take you on as my charge, and you shall never hunger again, and never lack for purpose. The Vanguard use all they can get, and I think you'll make for a resourceful soldier one day." said the man.

The boy pondered for a short while, considering his options. Trust the stranger who promised all, or trust the desire to play it safe. Either choice had drawbacks aplenty in the eyes of the boy, but it was this day that would change his life forever. "Deal," said the boy, "but you gotta answer this question first." The man simply nodded his head. "What's your name?"

"Lieutenant Johannes Limbani, but for now, just call me Joe." he replied. "Now you must tell me your name." The contagious grin on the man infected the boy with a strange happiness, and before he even knew he said it, the boy had given his answer.

"Maverick, that's what the other kids call me." replied the boy, grinning back.

~oOo~

~oOo~

 **Ragnar**

"You're sure there's not supposed to be any resistance here?" Ragnar asked. "I-I mean i-its not that I'm n-nervous or anything…but I just w-want to make sure. You know?"

The Titan in front of him simply offered a thumbs up and continued through the curtain of hanging wires. The starship was far more than derelict; it was completely and utterly gutted, and likely the result of some Fallen raiders. All that Ragnar knew was that if he tried to focus he might come home, and all that entailed was simply finding and retrieving a weapons cache located on this old blockade runner.

The wires were pushed aside to reveal a chrome metal hallway dusted with frost, and bodies and crates strewn in macabre decoration. There was something off about it all though, and when it clicked into place a chill ran the length of the hunter's spine. _The body's are arranged in a pattern…_

"Jesus," breathed the Titan, who shook his head gravely. "This isn't something the Fallen would do. Keep your eyes peeled for anything boys." The weapons clicked in unison, save for the warlock who took a moment to register the words in his head.

"Keep moving, keep killing, and keep quiet."

-skip-

"Guys!" panicked Ragnar. "Guys I can't see anything! Guys I can't - " he was interrupted sharply by a low guttural sound directly in front of him. He struggled to move but his bindings against the wall wouldn't budge.

Eventually his eyes adjusted in time to catch the outline of the thing moving towards him, it's massive misshapen figure limping towards him with hands outstretched with a trio of yellow eyes boring into his soul. Ragnar struggled against the failing bindings that much harder.

The creature screamed at his desperation and entered a full sprint with it's limbs hanging sickeningly limp. Ragnar eventually shattered the bone ring holding his right hand in place and reached for the weapon on his hip, but the creature was too fast. It's clammy claw found purchase on his wrist and pinned it back against the wall. At this distance, the bewildered hunter could see the twisted and contorted remnant of his Titan companion in this creature's face. The area around the eyes lacerated as if his original eyes were ripped away and replaced.

"No!" screamed Ragnar as he delivered a knee into the creature's bony torso, crushing the tough exoskeletal material with his knee pads. The wailing creature released him as it clutched it's bloody and shattered midsection. Despite the thing's best efforts to contain it's insides from spilling out onto the floor, it was losing fluids at alarming rates. A second screech that didn't belong to the remains of his friend sounded, and a moment later revealed itself as it burst forth from the desperate claws of it's host. A worm slithered out of the corpse away into the darkness, leaving Ragnar to himself in the belly of the ship.

The words of his now deceased friend echoed in his mind. "Keep moving, keep killing, keep quiet."

~oOo~

 **Ajax**

There was nothingness, just empty black void everywhere around him. The warlock field-medics would often say in their psych evals this dream described his state of mind…lacking and without purpose. They weren't him, and they wouldn't understand. Nobody ever has.

Then there was the smallest spec of light, ebbing at the shroud of dark. It grew, and grew, and as it continued Ajax saw them. A family, his family. He reached out to them once more just to watch as they vanished back into the shroud. He wanted to scream, but it wouldn't matter. Nobody understood his pain, and closest one who ever had…

"Fuck him!" thought Ajax bitterly. "Stupid fucking lucky kid got bred by an officer to be an officer. Fuck Maverick! Fuck the system!" Visions of the past flew by overtaking the empty void, surrounding Ajax in their midst, infinitely reminding him of the corrupt government that took his family, and the path he had to carve for himself to become a guardian. He would learn, and he would avenge. Next time, he would be able to save who and what he cared for from the reaches of authority. As if to push him over the edge further, the man who held the gun to his mother pulled the trigger.

"There will be vengeance, and nobody will get in my way. Patience is key." he thought, before the flash.

~oOo~

 **Constantine**

"You're a rare specimen indeed…", mused the robed man standing above him whose face was masked by blinding light. Constantine begged his eyes for more information but they stubbornly refused to give more than they were, masking the man's face and his surroundings in hazy shroud.

"Where am I?" Constantine stammered, failing to move his bound limbs. He could see now that he was laying flat on some kind of table or cot, and that he was completely nude. The eyes were beginning to make progress.

"You're in a place called, "The Tower", guardian", said the mysterious figure. "You've been dead for quite some time it seems, about just over a century in fact."

That was a real thinker right there. Dead for over a hundred years? Bullshit. People don't just come back from the dead, he must have just had a bad accident and didn't remember what happened. It would all come back to him with time he was sure. The figure moved toward the restraints with some kind of object, and Constantine couldn't help the reflexive flinch his wrists enacted at the gesture.

"Relax big guy, I'm just going to remove these restraints. Your reconstruction process was…violent, and we couldn't take any risks to our personal health. Surely you understand?" said the man. Constantine simply nodded his head as he sat up, his eyes finally able to reveal the face that belonged to the mysterious figure who he now towered over even just sitting up.

"I need to report back to the Army, let's know I'm still good for a fight you know? Do you know where I can check in?" Constantine asked, straight to the point. He figured the war department would have a few choice words with him for lolligagging if he took too much time recovering.

"You won't need to Guardian, not anymore." said the man, smiling that kind of smile that says, ' _god bless you you poor ignorant soul'._ Constantine merely quirked an eyebrow up at the man, who quickly traded the smile in favor of a more serious expression. "You and I are going to have a long chat. A _long_ chat."

~oOo~

 **Percy**

The world beneath an apple tree lay peaceful and green before Percy. At least, what he'd thought an apple tree might look like standing among others in the rolling hills of Britannia. Beside him lay a book bound in ancient leather studded in rubies with corners plated in silver, more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen. He reached to grab it, to enjoy it's contents like a fine wine, but much to his dismay it vanished at once.

"Huh", Percy mused, "How interesting!" He stood up to look around when something heavy landed with a thud into the crown of his head, forcing him to retake his seat next to the tree. What he found next to him once more was that same book, untouched and strangely back where it lay before. Putting a finger to his lips, Percy decided to grab for the book again, and watched in fascination as it disappeared yet again.

Convinced he was seeing a pattern, Percy decided not to stand up and instead scooted over to the side. When nothing immediately happened he let out a sigh of relief tinged with disappointment. "Damn, I thought I was onto - ", his muttering was interrupted by a side-swipe from the left landing square in the temple, sending his head spinning. Again, the book lay on the ground in the same position as the first time.

"Blast it! What kind of joke is this?" huffed a rather flustered Percy. "In what law of the universe do books fly and teleport?" Almost as if to spite him, an apple fell from the tree above him but hovered before his face, suspended in air. He wanted to touch it, but every instinct screamed not to. Chalking up fear to getting in the way of science and such, he grabbed for the apple that, like the book, vanished and hit him from the right side.

"I…what, what is hap-happening?" he drooled. "Physicsh don't work like dis! It doeshn't shay that in the booksh!" As if it seemed nothing more could go wrong, the sky seemed to be getting larger, and brighter, until…

~oOo~

 **Nora**

From a sturdy but weathered window Nora watched the nightly traffic in the Last City. Today was her birthday, in fact the biggest one she was told she would ever have, her 18th birthday. There was a lump in her throat that hadn't gone away since she decided she would tell her parents about joining the Vanguard. She knew they would try and dissuade her, and barring that her father would certainly lock her to her room till she submitted. They still saw her as their darling little straight-A's daughter who'd go on to be a wealthy doctor. They really only knew half of the truth. Academics would certainly never leave her life, but she desired to know everything, and the only way she would ever leave orbit was through service.

A soft knock sounded from the door, out of which Nora's father stepped through a moment later. "Hey sweetheart", he said softly as he took a seat next to his daughter. "How was your eighteenth?"

"It was amazing Dad", she began, "and there's really no way I can thank you enough for everything you helped with." For emphasis she picked up a loose strand of confetti off the floor and twisted it in her hands.

"Awesome! Warms my heart to hear that Nora, it really does." he replied with his proud smile and perked shoulders.

"Which…makes what I have to tell you that much harder to say, Dad." she mumbled. Her father's peachy expression immediately softened into worry, instantly stretching millions of different possibilities while trying to remain cool and collected and failing completely. "I want to join the Vanguard. I want to just, see everything, you know?"

For a moment there was just an awkward silence as Nora watched her father's face go white as snow and blank as fresh paper. _I'm sorry to tell you like this,_ she thought achingly. Had she more courage she just might have said it aloud rather than say nothing at all. Her heart skipped a beat in fear as he slowly stood and walked towards the door, turning with watering eyes back to look at her.

"I…I'll…your mother will want to know about this." he choked hoarsely. With that, he simply closed the door and left Nora to herself.

"Great! Now my parents are pissed at me and the only way I'll ever get to see the world and beyond is…I don't know." she mumbled to herself. "Why does this have to be so difficult?" She gazed out at the window once more to look at the Traveler, admiring it for a while before she decided enough time had passed that her parents wouldn't likely come up to talk tonight. With a sigh, she laid in bed and prepared for the lecture that would come in the morning.


	6. Downtime

**Downtime**

 **AN: So we're back with another episode, and this will be the last one for a long while. (Not that every chapter hasn't taken a long while…) Anyways, as I'm sure I've stated just about everywhere, school is extremely demanding at the moment so after this, expect another long wait. Thanks in advance to those who were following this story. :)**

" **Strange, what being forced to slow down could do to a person." - Nicolas Sparks,** _ **The Last Song**_

"Notice sirs, notice sirs! Reveille has sounded! Uniform of the day is daily-c's with boots sirs!" sounded the loudspeaker. Grudgingly I heeded the call and opened my eyes to the dimly lit room full of bunks my fire team shared. I started to recall how much I really hated this particular callboy's voice when he began to repeat the announcement.

Groggily, I rubbed my aching head and sat up on the side of my bed, noticing my blankets and sheets scattered and twisted atop my mattress. The dream from the night before was…an unpleasant reminder of why I chose this life, so I sat a little straighter as my vision cleared. Judging from the looks of everyone else as they awoke it became very obvious none of us slept very well last night. Ragnar looked positively drained, and Ajax's resting bitch-face was even more, well…bitchier. The rest just looked like they'd been through an pre-golden age washing machine and had been spit out.

Despite the pounding headache and desire to sleep, I knew if we weren't ready in five minutes for inspection we'd be chewed out real good by the senior guardians conducting it. Those were the motherfuckers nobody wanted to piss off, and even Ajax gave them space when they made rounds each morning. I looked around the room one more time to make sure everyone was getting dressed and making their beds before joining them. When the beds were made and my daily c mesh-suit was fit snugly over my body, I gave the others a thumbs up and walked outside the door to post at parade rest.

Not ten seconds later the inspector detail entered the hallway and called everyone to attention. Today was pretty tame, and nobody screwed up in any big or exciting ways like last time where Fire team Indigo wasn't even awake for inspection. My doorplate was still pristine and sparkling from their efforts. Turning my attention from the past, the inspector stopped to inspect my uniform, giving a satisfactory grunt to my team and I before moving on. When he and his partner finished their routine, they dismissed the hallway and promptly carried on back to the elevator. There was a laughably collective sigh as the whole floor took a breath in relief and reentered their rooms to get the daily notes from their ghosts. Priscilla floated over my bunk, patiently waiting as I moseyed on over to her.

"Morning Mav", she said in as perky a voice she could possibly muster. "I just checked with the Speaker today. Ares has today off on leave!" she did a flip and whirled excitedly while her eye flashed brightly. "What are we gonna do?"

I simply stared back at my ghost with a blank face. "I…don't really know" I said, scratching the back of my head, feeling acutely the short hairs bristling against my calloused fingers. This had to be the first time I had free time and didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with it. I didn't really know how to feel about that.

"Well, I don't know about you fuckers, but I'm gonna spend some time walking around the city" said Ajax. He'd already equipped his unarmored wrist-wear and was walking out the door before any of us so much as acknowledged him. Percy then cleared his throat, and grabbed his satchel full of books as he stood to go.

"I am going to the library today to read up on the subjects of physics and quantum physics. I've got some questions that need…answers." he said cryptically, before averting his gaze from the rest of ours and walking out. I could just barely hear him mutter about some 'stupid book and apple tree' as he traipsed down the hallway. I couldn't help the grin that plastered itself on my face. Constantine lifted himself off his bunk and adorned his wrist wear, turning to look at me.

"I'm heading to the mess, then to spend some time in the gym. Take care you guys, don't get into too much trouble", he said as he winked at me. Then he promptly strolled out the door, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the frame.

Ragnar gathered his weapons and slung them over his shoulder, looking once at both Nora and I with bloodstained eyes adorning blue bags underneath them before walking off through the door. Anyone who knew him already knew where he was heading: the Armory. That was where he spent all of his free time sharpening his knives, cleaning guns, adjusting scopes and sights. I always felt bad for him, the way he resigned himself to that lifestyle to cope with his scars. When I received him as a replacement the brass only told me he'd been through a lot, but that statement never did any justice to explain the way he acted. The only time he ever even spoke was to say 'sir yes sir' or 'sir no sir', and the last time that occurred was years ago.

Seeing Nora stare at me cleared away all my thoughts, and immediately my legs went weak, forcing me to shift my stance a little. I silently prayed she didn't pick up on that too much. After another awkward moment of silence she averted her gaze from me and both of us looked at the ground as if that would make things less weird.

"Do you want to go to breakfast?" she asked, still retaining some grace in her voice.

"Yeah!" I blurted way too quickly. I quickly recomposed myself and said, "I'd love to." I could hear Priscilla chortling obnoxiously behind me, while Nora's ghost, Ingram, was doing the same.

"I'll lead the way then!" interrupted Priscilla, who was doing a terrible job at hiding her readily available enthusiasm. I simply looked over at Nora who just shrugged back.

~oOo~

Biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and none too soon! I happily walked my tray back to the table I'd picked out, having reserved both end seats for Nora and I. When she returned I offered to grab her drink, to which she asked for water. _Water? Really?_ I thought to myself. _You need milk with this kinda food!_ Regardless of how I felt about her ill-informed decision I procured a cup of water for her and milk for myself and walked back to the table.

"So what are you doing today" asked Nora. "You never said." I simply froze with a spoonful of scorching food in my mouth and swallowed awkwardly, earning an amused smile from her. _Worth it!_

"Probably just gonna walk around the city for a bit and stuff. Flex some muscles and look like a badass, give out some signatures, the usual." I offered, grinning when she frowned at me. I took the chance to stuff more food in my mouth and enjoy the rare meal that the mess hall made right.

"So you're just gonna be the usual jack-ass?" she asked with an eyebrow arched.

"Yeah!"

"Go figure."

"What did you expect?" I asked sheepishly.

"From you, I guess nothing much." she quipped.

 _Ouch!_ I thought inwardly. I could hear Priscilla burst laughing through my neural pathway. I couldn't help but scowl just a little, but to make sure Nora couldn't see it I took a sip of milk. When I put the glass down the warlock burst out laughing as well, hiding her face in her arms to muffle herself.

"What's so funny?" I asked, all of a sudden feeling extremely self-conscious. When she pulled her head up she giggled a bit looking at me, obviously trying to clear her face but failing miserably.

"You - you've got the fu-funniest milk mustache when you wear that expression." she blurted out quickly before laughing again.

Quicker than I could yell, "Skiff", my face bloomed a rosy red. I began to pile food into my mouth now just to hide the embarrassment, completely forgetting temperature. When Nora composed herself again she smirked at seeing my plate now completely clean.

"So, for real this time Maverick, what are you ACTUALLY going to do today?" she inquired.

"I've already said, I'm going for a walk." I replied. Nora rolled her eyes and from her posture I could see she was ready to go.

"Boring" she snarked.

"Boring?" I started, completely exasperated. "Boring? Nora you're a fucking Warlock! You're the epitome of boring!" I said bluntly. _Who is she anyways, calling me boring? Damn warlocks…_

"Big words for a hunter." she mused with a wicked grin, as she grabbed her tray to go.

"Are you calling me stupid?" I pressed. It was on now, whether she knew it or not.

"Take a guess genius." she shot back, thumping my head with the plastic tray before walking off. "I'll see you later Mav!" she called.

 _Damn, she gives as good as she gets._

~oOo~

I don't think there was one pair of eyes that didn't watch in amusement as I left the mess hall. Apparently Nora and I were louder than I thought, loud enough that another Hunter passed by me on the way to dump my tray and offered a conciliatory pat on the back. For what it's worth here in my head, 'thank you random person'.

"So", started Priscilla, "Nora One, Maverick Zero". I turned to the ghost floating alongside me to the right and just glared at her for a minute. "Just saying", she 'shrugged' before flying ahead of me.

 _Just sayin' indeed._ I thought sourly. As if today couldn't get any worse, the tower's lower courtyard greeted me with falling flakes of icy white winter. The cold air stopped me dead as a brick wall when the automated glass door slid open, allowing me a look at a strange tree piled in snow. Did I every mention that I hate Russian winters? I'm not joking.

I pressed on to the other side of the courtyard and made for the elevator down to the barracks at level fifteen. When the bell rung and twin doors swept aside I went straight for the tac-pad that I left on my bunk. I hurriedly secured it to my wrist and nodded adieu at Ragnar, who sat atop his bunk field-stripping his rifles…again. Lastly, I made sure to grab my cloak to keep warm before heading back to the elevator for the ride down.

~oOo~

The cold winds grew milder the deeper I wandered through the streets of the city, for which I was thankful. Flashing lights and busy bodies filled every available inch of the sidewalks while cargo barges and other vehicles asserted their place at the center of the roads. For the most part nobody gave me any sideways glances, thanks to my cloak, which is partly the reason I wear it outside of the tower. Vanguard aren't well-liked amongst the folk I was about to walk into. They seem to think they're oppressed and stuff.

"Maverick?" asked Priscilla. The ghost flew out of my cloak to look at me curiously.

"Just hide. I'll explain in a minute." I answered. A few heads turned my way now that the ghost revealed herself. If only she understood just how quickly word travels and how perceptive the ears of younger children are.

"Maverick!" she said. "Don't look now, but that man behind you, he's been following us since you about left the tower."

I quickened my pace ever so slightly, but I had a plan. There's always a backup plan for down here in the ghettoes.

"Don't worry Priscilla, I know a guy." I muttered just so she could hear. I rounded the corner to the industrial district, watching the scenery turn from busy market stalls to steamy alleys and open garages. Wires hung like vines between buildings, and some were even lined with lights for the annual upcoming Dawning. _Bit early for that, but okay._

Seeing the door I wanted to see was just up ahead, I chanced a look over my shoulder to see another cloaked figure standing at the entrance to the alleyway. Despite my not seeing his face from underneath, I could feel his eyes staring straight into my own. _Fuckin' jackass thinks he's cool 'cause he wears a cape._

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones", reminded Priscilla. As she finished her sentence the stranger turned tail and left the alley entrance. Turns out that I unconsciously held a white-knuckle grip on my hand cannon.

I shrugged and made an about face, walking to the end of the alley. Hoping the tenant was the same guy it used to be a few years ago, I took the liberty of lifting the garage door and admitting myself into the abode. Before I could blink I was hit in the face with the odor of welded metal and motor oil.

"Matt!" I choked. "Matt, you in here?" My eyes had not yet adjusted to the dim light in the room and I stumbled around blindly kicking around spare tools across the floor. "Matt! You here?"

The lights abruptly turned on and a scrawny man shot up from behind a trio of sparrows strung up from the ceiling. He had a pistol in his hand pointed straight at me, held up with a shaking arm.

"Maverick?" he whispered to himself. "Jesus! It's been years at least, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Visiting", I answered promptly. "How've you been since the discharge?"

"I'm still alive", he offered grimly, "but not much more than that. Can't really find a girl who digs the iron-legs getup the Vanguard got me rolling with." The gesture from the man pulled Maverick's gaze down to his skeletal prosthetics. The wiring in the legs hung out loosely and all of the plating had been scrapped. My eyebrows arched just a tad to subtly tell his friend how stupid that modification was.

Mattrim just shrugged and forced a laugh. "Enough about me, what about you Mr. Squad Leader? How's it feel to be in the big boy shoes?" The man smiled as he sat on the prong of a sparrow, resting his back against the hood.

"It's…interesting." I mused. "Ajax has become bolder, and —"

"He's fallen in love with Nora!" interrupted Priscilla. Mattrim's face practically split in two before he burst out laughing. The fire in my cheeks was just about equal to how pissed I was getting with my ghost at this point.

"You're bullshitting me." Matt said in disbelief. His face was totally blank as he struggled to picture everything.

"Nope!" answered Priscilla.

"You're yanking my chain!" Matt said.

"It's the Truth", Priscilla answered again.

"You're pulling my leg", Matt yelled excitedly glancing from my ghost and I.

"No Matt it's true!" Priscilla answered yet again.

"Your're-"

"Matt, enough!" I said, a little amazed at how long the back and forth went.


End file.
